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The true story behind I'm Still Here, Brazil's Oscar winner

Marcelo Rubens Paiva was 11 when armed men from Brazil's military dictatorship took his father away. The family would fight for years to prove what happened to him.

Marcelo Rubens Paiva was 11 when armed men came and took his father away. Brazil was under a military dictatorship at the time. Marcelo's father was an opponent and was killed for it. His mother Eunice Paiva was now alone, raising five children. For decades she fought for answers from the state. She became a prominent lawyer and human rights defender and helped to set up Brazil's Truth Commission. But when Eunice started to develop Alzheimer's disease it fell to Marcelo, by now a successful author, to tell the family's story. That story has been made into an Oscar-winning film - I'm Still Here. And it's reignited a national debate in Brazil, about the past and the present.

Also, we revisit the story of another parent-child relationship. American Dad Ed Cage was working four jobs and looking for a way to connect with his kids when he started beatboxing with his daughter Nicole. He had no idea that the skill would one day bring them both fame. This interview was first broadcast in 2016.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Interpreter and voice over: Fernando Duarte
Producer: Helen Fitzhenry

Get in touch and share your story with us at outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Main Image: Family photo of a young Marcelo Rubens Paiva standing next to his father. Credit: Paiva family archive)

Available now

41 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Mon 31 Mar 2025 11:06GMT
  • Mon 31 Mar 2025 17:06GMT
  • Mon 31 Mar 2025 21:06GMT
  • Tue 1 Apr 2025 02:06GMT

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